A surrealist cartoonscape

KOCHI: As an applied art graduate, Delhi-based artist Vishnu M Nair finds himself straddling two different worlds. One, that of an independent creator informed by personal history and the other of a designer who works in the service of someone else’s story. The 28-year-old who has collaborated with Kochi-based storytelling studio Kokaachi on multiple occasions is an astute observer of his position as a young artist traversing the commercial space while he attempts to forge a framework of individual expression.

“I am not sure if I should call myself an artist, an applied art practitioner or a designer but I think most modern artists find themselves in that gradient,” he says. Even so, Vishnu’s art seems to navigate separate planes. Or rather, his work is a coming together of two traditionally discordant culture movements and art genres.

Vishnu’s style is resonant of the comic books and cartoons he was exposed to as a kid. However, the motifs evident in his frames are unmistakably surrealist. “When the general population thinks about surrealism, they are usually thinking about the paintings of Salvador Dali. And when they think about graphic art, the mind diverts to graffiti and pulp comic books.

But there exists a world that is in between. French artist Jean Giraud who goes by the pseudonym Moebius, an inspiration, is an example of how you can successfully negotiate the spectrum. His body of work comprises immersive and surreal landscapes intricately sketched in a comic-like style. With my work, there are two aspects, the visual vocabulary that is drawn from my childhood influences but what I choose to tell with that is often broken, surrealist, humourist compositions,” says Vishnu who spent his early years in Kochi.

While a substantial section of young artists has transitioned almost entirely to digital platforms, Vishnu’s projects continue to be in the analogue medium - an obvious testament to how much he enjoys the process of organically making his craft. “You don’t have an undo button when you are working with a pen on paper. I look forward to happy accidents and I find myself adapting and changing in the course of creation,” adds Vishnu.

One of his enduring works, a series of stamp-sized analogue illustrations tentatively titled BFB Squares, akin to matchbox comics which is lately in favour within the new-age art community, was illustrated for Kokaachi. “I think of them as short escapes. When I draw a 1x1 inch on paper, it accords me the focus a viewfinder does.

What I also find interesting is that these days we are consuming art through our phones. Even if something is a six-feet tall piece of art, we are viewing it through a six-inch square. The BFB series is a way to humour that. It is a fun exercise but I was planning to bring out a small publication by compiling them,” says Vishnu.

Currently associated with a design studio, Vishnu has previously collaborated with brands like Royal Enfield. He is presently working on an animated short film and a series of paintings ignited by his experience of participating in a graphic art exhibition in Baroda a couple of years ago.

Follow Vishnu on Instagram @xishnu